Phillies14

They state average play, so $25 or fifty, two or three hours with the odds I was more than qualified. Agian the big problem is there are no posted rules. I cancelled my other three cruises for this year and now they want to discount this and that, sorry I wasn't looking for a hand out just to get into the program.

For a great review and wonderful pics. Will be sailing on the Enchantment may 3rd and can't wait. Have never been on a RC ship this "small" so to speak, but I'm sure I'll love every inch of her. And the crew is always a big part of my cruise also, so hearing your great comments about the crew is also wonderful....K.O. near Philly:)

OMG are you serious! GURRRRR!! CANT BELIEVE it!

 

They want to such out as much money from us as possilbe!!

 

That is one think I like about Carnival better is you can each carrry on some Soda/Water and a bottle of wine on.

 

That stinks!

It appears that this illness has affected all cruise lines and their ships, more so with other lines, including RCCL that don't have the open Grand Promenade, and I'm wondering or I don't know if it has affected the Oasis and/or Allure of the Seas by reason of those two ships not only having the Grand Promenade, but they also have total open fresh air along the boardwalk and central park area, who knows!!!

So lucky to get the loungers!

 

Some sort of fire code on Allure and Oasis that they have just the two small chairs and taller table. Yet the family suite and full suites have all sorts of upholstered furniture. While I loved our JS on Allure (and am sure I will on Oasis), sure wish we had a lounger or two.

When we were on Oasis, the captain told us that Oasis and Allure will dry dock in Rotterdam which means a trans-Atlantic cruise. I intend to be on it when Oasis goes over or returns. Oasis will go before Allure does. I think it will be in 2014, but cannot confirm that.

Need some advice...On Jan 26, 2004, I got married on the beach while in port in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Let me say it turned out beautiful, and I will never forget that day. We sailed on the Enchantment of the Seas along with 20 friends and family......now for the not so good RCCL PR part. We booked our wedding through Royal Romance Weddings (RCCL wedding Dept) 8 months prior to departure and paid our $995 deposit for the wedding. We were told that we would be contacted about four weeks prior to departure to finalize plans and get our preferences on options they offered. Let me add that we had originally planned to get married on the ship (not the beach....as port stops were not guaranteed) and our wedding invitations reflect this onboard location. We were in full wedding planning mode as months later 20 reservations were secured and balances paid. In the months leading up to departure I had been in communication with their wedding Dept to ask general questions, then one day, about two months prior to departure I called their Dept again, but this time it was specific to my reservation. They could not find my reservation! On top of this, they didn't think they could accommodate my wedding as other weddings were now booked (after mine btw).....seriously....are you kidding me! They actually asked me to prove that I had paid my deposit! You could only imagine my stress....we and 20 other guests were expecting a wedding in only a matter of weeks! After escalating this situation, they said they could accommodate me, but the attitude I was given was that I should be thankful instead of upset! After many sleepless nights, I called them back and demanded my deposit back.....and yet again, unbelievably they gave me a hard time saying it was too late to cancel. I just about lost it. After escalating the situation again, they refunded my money. I booked with "A Wedding For You" who quickly took care of all the details to situate a wedding in Jamaica. My only worry was if we would be diverted from that port, but it was January, so I took the risk.....I didn't really have much of a choice. When I escalated the situation, I asked if they could give me anything for the chaos and stress that I was put through....they gave me a $100 voucher for a FUTURE sailing.....not my wedding cruise. Really, was this the best you could do? Now, fast forward to today....I just booked a 5-day western on Liberty and this will be our first cruise since our wedding as we have two little ones, ages 3 and 6....so all these years, I felt my kids were a bit young for a cruise. We are now ready, but I still feel a bit of resentment towards RCCL, but this ship had so much to offer for the little ones, that I just had to book this ship. I realize this was many years ago, (and the small voucher expired long ago), but I feel they owe me something....money off, shipboard credit, or preferrably a considerable upgrade (we booked an OV as I'm not holding my breath). This could have been a complete disaster.....at least I lost a ton of weight because of the stress.....a bride's dream. Interestingly enough, our upcoming cruise is to Ocho Rios....so I am so excited to show our kids where we got married! Any advice on who to contact for some resolution to this? Our cruise is April 9, 2012 so we are less than 90 days out. We are only on deck 2, and paying out the nose for that, but I will be happy with this anyway if I can't get anything better....it is a bit late in the game. If they can't recognize their mistake, I may just stick with Disney CL! Thanks, and sorry so long! Regardless of all this, we are still very happily married (8 yrs), have two beautiful children and are so blessed.

 

-Tammy

Not to open a can of worms, but opting to buy travel insurance certainly isn't as black and white as you make it out to be. I travel numerous times a year, some for business, but mostly for pleasure. I NEVER buy insurance. Statistically, the likelihood of missing out on a trip and losing the cost is relatively low. Insurance runs anywhere from 5-15% of the cost of the trip. If I buy that for eight trips, I have spent as much money as one entire trip. I certainly haven't encountered disruptions 15% of the time!

I understand if the guest can't make the ship due to bad weather thats there problem really, I'm talking about the Governor declaring a state of emergency an all roads are closed.I would think they delay the ship 1 day an maybe skip one of the ports scheduled.

They will not delay the ship a day, just doesn't and won't happen

I understand what they are saying about rules but rules are made to be broken, I hope :)

 

As we are on such a long cruise it would be nice to have Platinum benefits for some of it, I will try when we are on the ship.

I have started writing the review of my cruise on Allure last week. There is simply too much for me to write it in one sitting so I'm just going to have to post it up little by little. I think it will work out better this way, since I have a ton of pictures to sort through and post along with it. So bear with me folks this will probably be a multi-day, or possibly a multi-week affair. But rest assured that I will deliver as complete a report as I possibly can.

How come none of you warned me about the terribly narrow, bizarrely shaped toilet seats on the Serenade? :confused:

 

They were so uncomfortable! It is a narrow ledge, more akin to the bare rim below it, then the flatter, wider expanse we are all used to here in the States.

 

I actually made a tour of public restrooms hoping to find the normal ones - to no avail.

 

Having cruised on Radiance 2 years ago, I am positive these were not present. I made note of it on my survey, it's uncomfortable and looks so cheap. It really sends a terrible message to new cruisers. I was very disapointed to see them. It is so cheap looking and tacky!

Day 8 – Home time

 

I set my alarm early to make sure I had plenty of time to get myself sorted. For the first time I went to the MDR for breakfast. Although I had wanted to try this sooner, I can’t eat early in the morning so the MDR had always finished serving by the time I was ready. But today was different, I needed to set myself up for the day. I sat on a large table (though no-one on it even acknowledged me!) and had fruit followed by a salmon and mushroom omelette. It was good even though I wasn’t particularly hungry. I grabbed a last coffee to go from Café Promenade and thanked the lovely staff who had served me all week. Then I headed to the Platinum Theatre where my departure group had to meet. One of my friends was also in this group so I chatted to her and we boarded the transfer coach. Everything was very smooth and easy, no issues at all. We arrived at Barcelona airport at 9.30 where I left my friend. The problem here was that check-in didn’t open for another hour. So everyone just stood about in a long time waiting, rather frustrating. Luckily I was next to a couple I had seen on the plane coming so they watched by bag whilst I nipped to the loo. Another problem with travelling solo!

 

Eventually I was checked in and waiting to board the plan. Barcelona airport is not the best, I had a vile sandwich and wished I hadn’t bothered! Then they kept changing the gate we had to board from but I kept checking the screens so realised this. Not everyone did though, so remember to always have a look just in case. We ended up having to get a shuttle bus to the plane but eventually boarded and managed the flight with no issues.

 

So I guess that’s it! Hopefully this has been vaguely interesting and/or entertaining for you all. I can’t believe I’ve written it all in one day. Thank you for reading!

 

All in all, I had a fantastic cruise. I’m so glad I bit the bullet and went on my own – you can be completely selfish and do whatever you want when you want without having to consider anyone else. At times it was a bit daunting but totally worth it. Looking back I probably didn’t make the most of the facilities and activities that the ship had to offer for a number of reasons. I didn't use the surf simulator or rock climbing wall - I would have enjoyed it but think you need to do these sort of things in a group of people.

 

But I enjoyed it enough to have just booked my second solo, this time on the Norwegian Jade round the Canaries in January. I know this will be a totally different experience but am looking forward to it and will let you all know how it went when I return :D

Getting there, stay tuned. :cool:

Never thought I would be Diamond plus! Now that I have actually made it and do one B2B and one seven day cruise a year will be pinnacle by the time I'm 66!!! Kidding really but a guy can dream. Love the perks and little special extras belonging to the C&A Society which gives my cruise just that little itty bitty extra special feel to the whole experience. Nothing in life is gauranteed. So enjoy your perks when you get them and happy cruising! (Miss your candor KO;))